Between the Lines - Issue Eighteen

Gentle Annie

In 1856 American songwriter Stephen Foster (1826–1864) composed “Gentle Annie” as a farewell to his grandmother. The beautiful melody and sentimental words found their way to Australia… the version below is drawn mainly from a 19th century parody of the original reportedly written by Lame Jack Cousens of Springhurst (near Rutherglen), Victoria. It is a combination of versions sung by Tom Newbound of Rutherglen (who learnt the song from Lame Jack) with an extra section from Simon McDonald of Cresswick (verse 4), Victoria (Norm O’Connor Collection, National Library of Australia). Edgar Waters says in his notes for ‘Traditional Singers and Musicians of Victoria’: “Jack Cousens said that he had written the words of the song himself, about a girl named Annie Waits, who lived on a farm at Moorwatha on which he had worked a threshing machine.” So the Australian version became a song of a very different nature about a girl very much still alive at the time. To my mind the hand stayed on the heart but the tongue ended up firmly in the cheek, and the resulting song is a beauty!



1. When the harvest time comes, Gentle Annie,
And the wild oats are scattered round your door,
You'll be anxious to know, Gentle Annie,
How your little stack of oats is going to yield.

2. Oh, your mutton's very sweet, Gentle Annie,
And I'm sure it can't be packed in New South Wales.
But you'd better put a fence round those cabbage
Or they'll be all het up by the snails.

3. And you'll take my advice, Gentle Annie,
And you'll watch the old chaffie going away,
With his pack-bag hung on his saddle
And he stole some knives and forks the other day.

4. When the springtime comes Gentle Annie
And the wild flowers scatter o’er the plains,
Will I never more behold you?
I’ll never hear your witty voice again.

5. Ah, the bullocks they are yoked, Gentle Annie,
And with you I can no longer stay.
I'll bid you farewell, Gentle Annie,
And hope we'll meet another threshing day.

6. We're traveling on the road into Bonang,
Gathering up a feeder Billy Yates.
Shall we meet again Gentle Annie,
Next year when we're threshing round your door?
I shall never forget you dear Annie,
The little dark eyed girl that I adore.

The Old Man Kangaroo

Like Gentle Annie, this song is also from the singing of Simon McDonald (Norm O’Connor Collection, National Library of Australia) with minor lyric changes based on a version collected from Jack “Hoopiron” Lee of Sydney (John Meredith Collection, National Library of Australia). The song seems to date well back into the 19th century and have travelled far and wide. It’s a terrific yarn – I particularly enjoy the last verse where the hungry bushies finally get a feed of “the sweetest meet that ever I eat”. They must have been starving for Old Man Kangaroo to taste so good!



1. Oh myself and my brother Billy
We got bushed in the mallee scrub;
For three long days and three long nights
We never tasted grub;
And on the third, my blessed word,
When things looked rather blue,
Old Billy spied to his joyful pride
An old man kangaroo.

2. Now up and at him Billy went
With a waddy in his hand,
Walked up to the kangaroo
Who defiantly did stand.
He made a blow at his hairy foe,
At Billy then he flew,
And as sure as fate, he grabbed my mate
Did the old man kangaroo.

3. Oh, he grabbed him tightly round the waist
And Billy began to roar,
And such a terrible struggle, boys,
I never saw before.
"Oh, blow my eyes," poor Billy cries,
"He'll break my back in two,
Oh, do be quick and get a stick,
And kill this kangaroo."

4. Oh, sneaking up behind him,
My tucker bag opened wide:
I slipped it right down over his head,
And then I so surely tied
Around his neck, it seemed to check
His progress, then I drew,
My dover out, and with a shout
I tailed that kangaroo.

5. Now a kangaroo without a tail,
Can't harm, you all must know.
So finding his dependence gone,
He let poor Billy go.
He gave a wail for the hairy tail,
The tale I tell you true,
Then he gave a jump and he sank a lump,
To a lifeless kangaroo.

6. Now my mate he had been bruised about,
But scarcely hurt was he.
And turning round to me he said,
"Oh boy, we'll have a feed."
Now Billy put the billy on,
And he made a splendid stew,
And the sweetest meat that ever I eat
Was that old man kangaroo.

These two songs are presented as arranged by Chloe Roweth and myself. Thanks also to Chloe for her help with the transcriptions.